The Pilgrim Spirit of Faith
/We are so tied to the here and now, aren't we? But at the heart of the life of faith is belief in the unseen God and trust in His promises that this world is not all there is. People of faith are pilgrims, aliens.
All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth...Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. Hebrews 11:13,16
A bumper sticker I recently saw says it well,
We are not human [temporal] beings having a spiritual [eternal] experience. We are spiritual [eternal] beings having a human [temporal] experience.
If our existence on this earth is temporal, then it is temporary. And according to God, it's fleeting...and we need to come to grips with that if we are to have the correct perspective of life on earth. So...
...let these Scriptures wash over you, and then humbly worship the unseen God, our Father, Who loves us!
Hear my prayer, O Lord! Listen to my cries for help! Don’t ignore my tears.For I am your guest— a traveler passing through, as my ancestors were before me.
Psalm 39:12 NLT
What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord, who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings. They will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.
Psalm 84:5-7 NLT
Your word has been the music of my lifethroughout the years of my pilgrimage.
Psalm 119:54
Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.
Psalm 107:43 NLT
Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.
James 4:14 NASB
As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer. But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children...
Psalm 103:15-17 NASB
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Cor 4:16-18 NASB
So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12 NASB